engl 288 - spring 2017

“…what counts as nature, for whom, and at what cost”? -Donna Haraway (104, @OnCoMouse)

At the intersection of discussions about intensified global warming, diminishing populations of endangered species, and increasingly perceptive artificial intelligence stands the human, or, at least, the question of the human. In mapping these territories, we necessarily come up against the human and its connection to animals, nature, culture, and technology. While this course focuses on the relationship of human beings and the environment in which they function, as represented in a variety of literary works (the university course description), we will also attend to questions about how we understand and constitute both “human beings” and “environment”: How “natural” is nature and how is it similar or different from “culture”? What is our relationship to animals, plants, machines, and nature, and what kind of responsibility does it entail? In addition to the assigned novels, poetry, film and television, we will utilize feminist and posthuman methodologies and theoretical texts to explore these questions. Ultimately, the goal of the class will be to deconstruct—that is, understand, critique, and re(con)figure—the human[’s] boundaries, limits, and thresholds.

Required Texts:

Coetzee, The Lives of Animals [978-0691070896 or 978-0691173900]

Danielewski, The Familiar Vol 1: One Rainy Day in May [978-0375714948]

Ishiguro, Never Let Me Go [978-1400078776]

Yamashita, Through the Arc of the Rain Forest [978-0918273826]

Date:

Reading:

week 1: introduction

1/17 Tuesday

Course Intro, Gallop, 'The Ethics of Close Reading,’ Spahr, 'Some of We and the Land That Was Never Ours'